Method of pulling over boots and shoes



Mmh 1940.

E; l. LA CHAPELLE METHOD OF PULLING OVER BOOTS AND SHOES Filed 'June 21. 1939 Patented Mar. 2 6, 1946 unirsnjsmrss; AT

OFFICE J 'llZEETHOD or PULLING oven eoors AND V SHOES l Euclid I. La 'Chapelle, Brockton, Mass. 7 Application June 21, 1939, Serial No. 280,295

' 1 Claim. (01; 12,145,)'

My invention relates to the shoemaking artand more particularly to methodsof pulling over boots andshoes. j

The pulling over operation is well recognized v to be the most importantst'ep of the lasting operation and whether it 'be performed by machine-or by hand, the toe end of the upper is, invariably, first to be engagedand strained, and thereby the :entire upper, directly from the heel- 1'0 end of the last is strained lengthwise of the last.

The pulling over machine'only can give the er}:-

trerne degree of lengthwise strain necessary for properly moulding the box-toe and the upper to the toe-end of the last,=and{whichis necessary 15 also to bring aboutafirm "setting of the counter and upper on the'heel-end of the last. The high 1 degree "of strain uponthe toe-end of theupperby the pulling over machine is such, and prop erly so for the reasons above stated, that, notably in th'e'pase of high toe lasts, the throat of the vamp stands "away from its proper normal posi-' tion down the instep of "the last and the vamp of the upper, back of the toe of the last, between the throat of "the vamp up to near the tip line of the upper '(orbetween-the ball and the corners of the toe of the last) stands alsoaway fromt-he top of the last aft-er the toe-endpulling movement upon the upper has taken place and after the "performance of the pulling over operation at tlrietoeof-thelast. Under this-defective'con dition the pulledover shoe, and the finished shoe, fail in embodying the exact shape of the last at that very prominent portion of the shoe.

in style at that point, the forepa-rt of the shoe will not long remain in original shape during wear, thus; increasing the lack of style at this prominent portion of the shoe. 1 a

40 'Many attemptsshave been .made fromtime to time towards eliminating the'cause of this dew festive condition at pulling over machines (ineluding attempts of that nature made by myself as shown in patents in my name) but, as the toeend of the upper then could not be strained with the high clegree'of lengthwise strain required for proper moulding of the box-toe for proper final toe lasting and. proper heel-seat formation, the conclusion then is, and must be, that the raising of the upper away from the last, as above explained, is a necessary evil that can be eradicated only after the pulling over machine operation'atthetoe.

I have, therefore, brought forth a novel method of pulling over which solely directed to the 1 Then, in 'shoemakers parlance, the "upper is said to 35 drum back of the toe and, aside from lacking pulling overof boots and shoes'that are pulled over by mac'hine as the adefectiveconditions herein noted do not existwhen shoes are pulled over by hand since the toe-end pulling movement upon theupper then is incomparably less strenuous than by machine. In the practice of my novel method Leventually engage and press against, the top of thelast, in the hollow, back of the toe, the upstanding portion of the vamp of. the upper of a shoe alreadyltl I pulled. over by machine at the toe and while that portion of the vamp of the upper is being held in pressed condition against and conformed-to the top-of the last,in=then,preferably, per-forming the pulling over step at the ball line of the last 15 by strainingthe marginal portion of the upper at thej'ball line of the last to set the throat of I the vamp further down on the instep of the last and to distribute the fullness' of the vamp at the shankpart towards the foreparto'f thelast, by :20

the well known-Ramsey pull herein further explained, and in then fastening in pulled over condition on the last those portions of the upper and in then per-forming the pulling over step between the-ball and the corners. of the toe of 9.5 the last, by straining the adjacent marginal pressed portion of the van-1p of the upper at each side of the last and by then fastening in pulled over condition on the lastthose portions of the upper.

Inthus pulling over theentire forepart, :the

shoe is better prepared for the side lasting maend {grippers of the pulling -over machine first engaging and very strongly straining (incom- 45 parablystronger than in pulling over by hand) the toe-end offthe-upper from the heel-end of the last, while the forepart of the upper is free of the'last and "is'therefore moved away from the top of the last under the influence of the 50 strong toe-'endpull-ingmovement upon the upper,

thus making extremely difiicult, after the performance of the; pulling over machine operation at the toeythje setting of the throat *of the upstanding vamp in proper position down on the .5

instep of the last and the setting of the upstanding vamp oi the upper against the top of the last,in the hollow, back of the toe.

Moreover, although many attempts have been made from time to time to adapt pulling over machines to perform the pulling over operation of the entire lorepart of the shoe, none, so far as I am aware, has ever been successful in a commercial sense.

One of the reasons for failure in this respect being that for a proper pulling over operation in the hollow, back of the toe of the last, the

upper must first be pulled at the ball line of the last and then a compound pulling movement is required i. e. first upwardly edgewise of the last andthen, by a turn of the grippers, diagonally toewardly from the heel-end of the last (this compound pulling movement being known in the trade as the Ramsey pull) and that no mechanical means adaptable to properly perform this compound pulling movement have yet successfully been devised in a pulling over machine. A further reason being that, in any event, under the highdegree of strain required at the pulling over machine operation for properly setting the vamp of the upper against the top of the last, in the hollow, back of the toe, (especially in the case of a high toe last) the vamp-lining would be torn apart and thus the shoe would be irreparably damaged.

As a matter of fact, this compound pulling movement must be performed by hand, as the element of judgment also enters into it and comes pretty near being absolutely necessary preparatory to the pulling over of the vamp of the upper, between the throat of the vamp and the tip line of the upper, as, aside from bringing down the throat of the vamp in proper position on the instep of the last, the fullness of the vamp along the shankpart is thereby also advantageously distributed towards the forepart oi the last.

In ordinary practice, immediately after the performance of the pulling over machine operation at the toe or, in any event, prior to the performance of the side lasting machine operation, the shoe is set and supported on a last-engaging spindle only and is then pulled over at the ball line only and by the compound pulling movement above explained and, invariably, by hand with ordinary lasting pincers and is fastened with tacks in pulled over condition on the last. In thus pulling over at the ball line of the last, the throat of the vamp, (or the ends of the quarters of a Blucher style upper) is advantageously set down, wardly on the instep of the last but that portion of the upper, between the throat of the vamp and the tip line, is still left in its original defective stateaway from the top of the last; and although reliance is placed upon the side lasting machine to force and set that upstanding portion of the vampof the upperfirmly against the top of the last, in the hollow, back of the toe of the last, in the ordinary performance of the side lasting machine operationlexcept in the case of lasts having very little slope from the toe crown to the instep or in the case of very stretchy uppers, such as of kid leather) this portion of the shoe will still remain in a more or in lasts now, are limited as to height of toe's or irregular shapes of instep, by shoe manufacturers who, due to the difficulty of bringing down the with the practice of my novel method, such lasts or lasts having irregular insteps need no longer be repressed.

It is also important to state that the cost of upper patterns is high and that the embodiment of the style of the last in the shoe depends a great deal upon the provision of the proper upper pattern forthe intended last. The cost of providing the exact upper pattern for each style of last in the general run of a shoe factory is, however, prohibitive so that a single upper pattern is generally provided for a plurality of different style lasts and under this condition it is obvious that some uppers must lack in proper fitting qualities, especially at the forepart and then, even when ordinary medium or low toe lasts are in use there is difficulty in pulling over the throat of the vamp and in the hollow, back of the toe. It is'under this condition that my novel method is also valuable in making possible the exact embodiment of the style of the last, at least, at the most prominent portion of the shoe, on top of the last, back of the toe.

Aside from making possible the exact embodiment of the style of the last in'the shoe at these prominent points, my novel method renders the pulling over of these particular portions of the upper far less laborious than heretofore possible and also greatly lessens the usual necessitated extreme strain upon the vamp-lining when, in the performance of the additional pulling over operation backof the toe, the upper is being strainedat the sides of the forepart of the last, between the ball line inclusive and the corners of the toe, so that possibility of damage to the vamp-lining at these portions of the shoe, of common occurrence in ordinary practice, is quite remote.

It is a notable fact that since in ordinary practice, shoes that have been pulled over by machines are subsequently pulled over at the ball line by hand, as hereinbefore explained, the extra work involved in the practice of my meth od is therefore minor over this ordinary practice and especially so when comparison is made with the beneficial results attained.

The apparatus herein shown forms the patentable subject matter of a patent for an improvement in Shoe jacks, issued in the name of the applicant February 20, 1940, No. 2,191,- 079 and the said apparatus forms no part of my presentmethod which may be practiced'by any suitable mechanical means other than herein shown.

As shown in the drawing: g

Figure lshows a longitudinal sectional View of a welt shoe after having been pulled over by machine and fastened in pulled over condition at the toe only, as in ordinary practice;

Figure 2 shows the said pulled over shoe positioned on my vamp-pressing apparatus with the upstanding throat of the vamp properly set in position on the instep of the last and the vamp, back of the toe, pressed against and concurled injthe bracket 28, by the set-screw 29, the

formed to the top ofthe last, in the hollow,

' said-bracket being secured'to the support 8.-

back of the toe;

- Figure 3 shows the same longitudinal sectional view as. that of the shoe shown in Fig. 2. but herein shown in. perspective tobetter show the location of the lasting tacks holding :the upper in'pulled over condition on theentire forepart of. the last; v

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the entire forepart of the shoeshown in Figs. 2. and 3- showing the upper pulled over. and fastened in pulled over condition at both sides of the last;

and I Figure 5 is a sectional detail view taken on line 5-5, Fig-2, showing the vamp engaging portion of the vamp pressing-member of my vamp-pressing apparatus. Q

As further shown in the. drawing:

As shown in Figure 1, an ordinaryshoe upper I has been pulled over on the last 2, by ma chine in the ordinary manner at the toe only.

and fastened in pulled over condition by theusual lasting tacks '3, inserted through the marginal portion of the upper, through the welt shoe insole 4 and into the last 2. As shown in Fig. 1,

that portion 1 of the vamp ofthe upper, located between the throat 5 of the vamp and the tip line 6 of the upper, has been raised away from the. top of the last, back of the toe, with'the throat of the vamp, under the influence of the high degree of strain exerted uponthe toe-end of the upper from the heel-end of the last by the toe-end grippers of the pulling over machine.

To properly pull over the portion .1, of the upper and the throat 5, of the vamp, I have provided the vamp-pressing apparatus. shown in Fig. 2, which includes the support. 8, rotatablymounted in the column 9. The said support 8 has at its upper-end a rearwardly extended arm ID, upon which the rocking frame I2 is pivoted at H. The said rocking, frame has a rearwardly ext-ended arm l3, .in which slideways M, are

provided. The said slideways hold the block I 5, which supports the last-pin I6, and,a sshown, the said block is free to slide in the 'slideways l4, relatively tothe vamp pressing member,

herein shown in the formof a rubber'pad 2| (preferably of medium. hard rubber) soas to readily accommodate lasts of various sizes. The said rocking frame l2 also has a forwardly extended arm H, to which'the upper end of a.-

The rubber pad. 2|, is preferably covered by a .7

thin covering 22, which is in tube form and into which the rubber pad is inserted and which may be of any suitable material, such as of thin upper leather. As shown, the rubber pad and the covering are set over a dove-tail shaped supporting member 23, which holds both in secured position.

I have provided the ears 24, on the underface' of the said supporting member 23, and I have provided'a hole 25, to receive the pivot-pin 26, to

which the upper end of the adjustable rod 21, is pivoted. This connection allows for oscillation of the vamp engaging pad 2|, as best shown in Fig. 5, so as to readily adjust itself to various shapes of lasts. The rod 21, is adjustablyse- A bottom plan view of the entire forepart of the pulled over shoe is shown in Fig. 4, to better show the location of the fastening-s at both sides of ,the last and especially of the tacks 3t, 3| and '32 holding the upper in pulled over condition on the last back of the toe,,in accordance with my novel-method of pulling oven.

g In the operation of the apparatus herein shown,

the operator first rocks the frame l2, by pr ssing With his. forearm upon the forearm engaging member 20, and he then setsthe pulled over shoe,

such as shown in Fig. .1, on the last-pin and the upstanding portion 1, of the vamp of the upper upon the vamp-pressing. member 2|, by releasing the said member 20, and thus, under the influence the. vamp of the upper is properly set against and conformed to the top of the last, in the hollow, back of the toe.,, Then, the operator proceeds to pull over by hand with ordinary lasting pincers, first,preferably at the ball line of the last and,

preferably, by the compound pulling movement hereinbefore explained, and he inserts fastenings to hold the upper in pulled over condition on the ball of the last and he next proceeds to pull over the sides of the upper adjacent to the pressed portion 1, of the vamp of the upper and he inserts fastenings to hold the pressed and conformed van p of the upper and the adjacent sides of'the upper in pulled over condition on the last. 7

Thus, theback of the toe portionof the shoe heretofore most difficult to pull over properly, has been rapidly wand easily pulled over and in .the

best possible manner and the forepart of the shoe for the first time has .been pulled over in its entirety, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the draw-- ing.

As shown, described and claimed herein, my novel: method necessarily involves the use of a pulling over machine adapted to pull over the upper only at the; toe-end and at the sides of the toe, as in general practice, since, as hereinbefore stated,only a shoe pulled over by machine may be pulled over strongly enough at the toe-end to ca se that portion of the upper located over the hollow, back of the toe of the last, to be moved away from the top of the last and permanently remain upstanding from the top of the last unless pressed and conformed to the top of the last as in the practice of that part of my method where that portion of the upper located over the hollow, back of the toe of the last, is pressed and conformed to the top of the last by-mechanical means, such as herein proposed.

In the case of a welt shoeof the well known Goodyear type, such as herein shown for convenience, the forepart of which having been pulled over in its entirety,,as herein shown, permits of the passing of the shoe to the welt sewing machine without need of side lasting, as the welt-guide of the ordinary welt sewing machine is well adapted to then last in the u'nlasted shankpart of the shoe. But, whenever a thick or extra.

' toe wiping operation.

proper pulling over of the throat of the vamp of the upper and for the proper pulling over of that portion of the vamp of the upper back of the toe between the throat of the vamp and the tip line of the upper, it is to be appreciated that my meth as possible at all points at the sides of the last,

so that once removed from the last, the shoe will stand up uniformly all over. In the case .of shoes that have been thus strained uniformly, the laborious treeing operation then may be dispensed with as the main objective in treeing resides in the bringing about of the uniform upstanding of the entire upper once the last has been removed from the shoe. With this main objective in view, the hot iron is usually availed of to shrink down to the last any upstanding portion of the upper out in so doing,'the upper is more or less damaged and, in any event, at portions of the shoe subjected to definite strain during wear, the results are not permanent. It is obvious that in ordinary practice, the upper, including its lining, must necessarily be disadvantageously overstrained between the throat of the vamp and the tip line of the upper after the performance ofthe pulling over machine operation at the toe and that my method of applying pressure upon that said back of the toe portion of the vamp, to a,

great extent eliminates the objectionable reoverstraining of the upper and of its lining at that part of the shoe, which is in line with the elimination of the treeing operation at least at that aforesaid back of toe portion of the vamp of the upper.

All or nearly all lasts now in use by shoe manufacturers are of the hinged type (a last havingia hinge connection uniting the forepart and the heelpart to allow the last to be broken and thus last being unknown to the operator of the pullingv 2,195,090 Although my novel method is intended for the over-machine, the-finished shoe on that particu--' lar last then is relatively shorter than the remainder ofthe SHOES in that given case of shoes.

My novel method,- incidentally, eradicates this serious defective condition, asin applying pressure upon the vamp, back of the toe, after the pulling over'machine operation at the toe, the slightly broken last is thereby straightened out into normalcondition and'there being no other possible, accidental break of the last i at any subsequent shoemaking operation, this defective condition is permanently eliminated by the practice of my method,

Having thus explained the nature of my method inve'ntionan'd shown the best form of practicing the same now to me known, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

That method of-pulling over, which consists in performing two distinct pulling over operations upon a shoe, by providing an upper and a last; by passing'the upper-and the last to a pulling over machine adapted topullover theupper at the toe-end of the last from the heel-end of the last and at the sides .of the toe of the last, while the upper-is free of the forepart of the last, thereby moving away and leaving that portion of the upper located over the hollow, back of the toe of the last, away from the last and adapted to insert fastenings to hold the said pulled over toe portions of the upper in pulled over condition on the toe of the last; by pulling overthe upper at the toe-end of the last from the heel-end of the last and at the sides of the toe of the last, while the upper is-free of the forepart of the last,thereby moving away and-leaving that portion of the upper located over the hollow, back of the toeof the last, away from the last and by inserting fastenings to hold the said pulled over toe portions of the upper in pulled over condition on the toe of the last; by thenperforming an additional pulling over operation upon the upper by passing the pulled over shoe to an apparatus adapted to press andthereby conform to the last the said moved away portion of theupper; by pressing and conforming to the last the saidmoved away portion'of the upper; by pulling over the sides of the upper adjacent to the said pressed and conformed portion of the upper and by inserting fastenings to hold the said pressed and conformed portion of the upper and the said back of toe adjacent side portions of the upper in pulled over condition on the last, preparatory to passing the pulled over shoe to a si-delasting machine, substantially as shown and described.

* EUCLID I. LA CHAPEILE. 

